On the (Non-)Politics of the "Gay Gene"
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Ex-Gay Watch has a good post on the latest back-and-forth on the “genetics versus environment” debate regarding the root causes of homosexuality. Bottom line:
I concur completely. From the perspective of the bigots, does it really matter whether being gay is genetic, prenatal, or postnatal? If it’s genetic, then “it’s a disease” that should be cured, treated, or even aborted.
If not, then families and schools should, the bigots will argue, be subsidized, or penalized, into raising children in a “non-gay” way, whatever that might mean (Mandatory Little League enrollment? Compulsory Britney Spears video marathons?).
Gays will never, ever win this debate, and politically it doesn’t really matter anyway. From the perspective of science, medicine and sociology, sure -- let’s find out. But let’s always keep the legal, political and moral implications -- or lack thereof -- in the proper context.
Related Post:
On the "Gay Genes Discovery" -- Movie Recommendation
On a philosophical level, getting bogged down in the genetics debate will get us absolutely nowhere. Is homosexuality genetic? I believe it to be, but until someone proves (or disproves) it definitively the argument is a dead end. For now, who cares?
That conversation is fruitless because it's simply hair-splitting about how we got here. I'm far more interested in the fact that we ARE here...and now that we are, what everyone is going to do about it. Let's try to stay grounded in reality here.
I concur completely. From the perspective of the bigots, does it really matter whether being gay is genetic, prenatal, or postnatal? If it’s genetic, then “it’s a disease” that should be cured, treated, or even aborted.
If not, then families and schools should, the bigots will argue, be subsidized, or penalized, into raising children in a “non-gay” way, whatever that might mean (Mandatory Little League enrollment? Compulsory Britney Spears video marathons?).
Gays will never, ever win this debate, and politically it doesn’t really matter anyway. From the perspective of science, medicine and sociology, sure -- let’s find out. But let’s always keep the legal, political and moral implications -- or lack thereof -- in the proper context.
Related Post:
On the "Gay Genes Discovery" -- Movie Recommendation
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Posted by KipEsquire on
7 April 2005
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